Bolster for railway-cars



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Patented Nev.A 27, 1894.

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BOLSTBR FOR RAILWAY GARS. i

Patented Nov. 27, 1894.-

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' UNITED, STATS PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES T. SCHOEN, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOLSTER FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

sPEcIFIcATIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 529,809,11ated1v0vember27,1894.

Application filed June 9, 1894. Serial No. 514,078. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES T. ScHoEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Allegheny, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have inventedV a certain new and useful Improvement inBolsters, for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description. l

A main obj ectof this invention is to provide practicallyinterchangeable standard body and truck holsters for railway cars, madeof steel pressed to shape. Inasmuch as various railway car constructionsrequire holsters of different widths, it would. be necessary for amanufacturer of pressed steel holsters to keep on hand or make to orderdies for each width, and this would result in so much expense as to makethe manufacture of pressed steel holsters impracticable because ofunprofitahleness in competition with wooden and other holsters.According to my invention, I make one or two standard minimum sizeswhich may be widened out through the various sizes up to the maximum,and thereby the manufacturer need carry no more than one or two sets ofdies for the large and heavy work of the holsters themselves. Y

In attaining the object of my invention,-I

- make up the holsters in skeleton form, andI adapt the truck bolster toVarious widths by additions of bolster column-guides of differentelevations. Y

Having thus stated the principle of myinvention, I will proceed to`describe the best mode in which I have contemplated applying thatprinciple and then will particularly point out and distinctly claim thepart improvement or combination which I claim as my invention.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is abottom plan viewyof the lbody bolster, Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thebody and truck holsters assembled. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of thetruck bolster. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of the assembledholsters, taken in the plane of line 4--4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an end viewof the truck bolster. Figs. 6 and 7 show, in top or edge view, two

f extremes of bolster column guide-plates.

The body bolster, Fig. 1, is composed of y two essentially parallel andsimilar channels or channel beams a, c, made widest midway between theirends, with their upper surfaces at and their lower edges tapering fromthe center toward each end. These channels are assembled with theirflanges a. a. arranged toward one another, as more clearly exhibited inFig. 4, and the said channels are rigidly connected bythe transversetie-pieces b, having the flanged ends b', which are riveted, bolted, orotherwise irmly secured to the channels a., c. For increase of strengthand stiffness, these tie-pieces may be provided with longitudinalcorrugations b2, and these tie-pieces heinglocated in the line of thedraft rigging serve also to resist the force of concussions of thedraft-timbers. At their centers the beams or channels are provided witha plate o overlapping the outer edges of the channels and bolted,riveted or otherwise rigidlysecured thereto, and to this plate c thebody half d of thecenter bearing plates is secured. The side-hearings eare also riveted, bolted or otherwise rigidly affixed to the channels,andthe ends of the channels are supplied with tie-piecesf, also fixedrigidly thereto. In this way, a body holster of any width, comparativelylight, and very strong and durable may be manufactured veryeconomically.

The skeleton truck bolster g is of the form of a channel narrowesttransversely on top,

midway between its'ends, and aring thencey outwardly toward its ends,the sides of the .ends being parallel by preference. The side Vflangesgf are, as in the case of the body bolster, widest or deepest at thecenter or midway between the ends, and both the upper and lower edgestaper from the center toward the ends. The outer ends are closed or openas desired, andI have shown them open. .The side bearings `h are shownas struck up integrally from the face of the body bolster,`as in myPatent No. 475,023, although it .is Within the present invention to makethe sidey bearings for the truck bolster as separate structures, andbolt, rivet or otherwise fasten them to such bolster. The flanges orsides of the truck-bolster are braced by meansof a sort of stay-boltconsisting of tubest'iitted inside between the said sides or anges toresist deformation of the holster in use, and held in place by bolts 2passed through the sides and tubes, but of course any other form ofstaybolts may be used. Bearing platesjare provided at the ends ol thetruck bolster to receive the bolster springs, and these bearing plateshave their sides j in contact with the edges of the sides or iianges ofthe bolster,

and are provided with upwardly and inwardly projecting corrugations jgshorter than the width of the plates to it inside between the innerfaces of the sides or flanges of the bolster, as shown in Fig. 5, tostay the plates and also the sides or ianges of the bolster laterally,the said plates being held in place by bolts 7s passed transverselythrough the bolster and the corrugations of the bearing plates.

The bolster column guide-plates Z are constructed with thetransverse-ribs Z', and are riveted, bolted or otherwise secured to thesides or iianges or the bolster at Z2. In order to prevent the motion ofthe column guides on the plates from tending to shear off the fasteningsof the latter, said plates may be provided with teats fm to enter holesn in the sides or langes. For minimum width bolsters the guide-plateswill be flat, as in Figs. 3 and 6, but in order to adapt such a bolsterto interchange with a bolster of greater width, I provide guide-plateswith raised seats as clearly shown in Fig. 7. By this means, the bolstermanufacturer need have machinery for making but one size of bolster andmay adapt such bolster to all the various sizes or widths by providingsuitable guide-plates; and since the guide-plates and the machinery formaking a variety of sizes of them are comparatively inexpensive, themanufacturer is enabled to provide all sizes of bolsters for new workand for interchange at comparatively small cost.

The truck bolster is provided with the center-bearing o of any approvedconstruction, bolted, riveted or otherwise fastened thereto, at o. Iprefer to reinforce the bolster beneath the center bearing by means of abracket or brace p, bolted, riveted or otherwise secured thereto,substantially as indicated in Fig. 4.

I do not limit my invention in body-bolsters and column guide-plates totheir use in combination with the special form of truck-bolster hereindescribed, since, as is obvious, truck-bolsters of other forms andconstructions may be employed. I have shown and described this specialform of truck-bolster as one of many forms that may be used.

The bolsters, center bearings, guide-plates, spring bearing plates, sidebearings, ties, dsc., may be economically made by die-pressing fromplate or sheet steel, and so made, are very durable and light, and whencombined, they form structures of great strength.

In addition to the advantages already described as resulting from orgained by my invention, I may add, that by constructing the truckbolster narrower. transversely at the center than at the ends, there isetected a saving in metal of from ten to twelve per cent. of the widthof plate required to get a certain desired depth of iiange; and sincethe principal strain is vertical,-the bolster being loaded at the centerand supported at its ends,-the narrowing does not weaken the structureat all. In the use of one or two minimum widths of bolsters and thebuilding them up to the required width by the addition of columnguide-plates, I am enabled to effect a practical plan for using pressedsteel bolsters both for new work and for interchange. In practice, thetruck bolsters vary from, say, nine to fourteen inches in width, andbetween these limits there are upward of twenty five sizes. With myguide-plates used as bolster extension pieces, I am enabled to adapt oneor two of the smaller sizes of bolsters to all these sizes or widths,and obviously, at very small expense, it being neces` sary to have diesonly for the production of the various sizes of guide plates rather thanfor the bolsters. By making the body bolster of channels tied together,it is obvious that with the same channels, bolsters of diierent widthsmay be made by simply using the tie pieces, side bearings, dsc., ofproper length to get the desired width, and hence this body bolster isas adaptable for or capable of interchange as is the truck bolster; andsince the variations in widths of body bolsters is greater than that inthe truck bolsters (being from about nine to nineteen inches) the valueand economy of my invention will be apparent.

It is obvious that it is within my invention to make a body-bolster of asingle channel, as in the case of the truck-bolster, and so, also, it isequally obvious that my invention comprehends making the truck-bolsterot two channels tied together, as in the caso of the body-bolster iirstdescribed.

1. Abody or truck bolster composed of two channel-like beams, transversetie-plates toy connect them, and side-bearings also connecting them, thechannels or channel beams being deepest midway between their ends,substantially as described.

2. A body or truck bolster composed of two channels or channel beams a,d, connected by the transverse tie-pieces b, b, arranged uprightcentrally within the channel beams, and the end tie-pieces f, whereby abolster may be constructed of any desired width by varying lengths ottie-pieces without alteration of the channels, combined with an appliedcenter-bearing-plate and side-bearings, substantially as described.

3. A body or truck bolster comprising two channels or channel beams, andtie-pieces b, b, consisting of longitudinally corrugated plates arrangedbetween said channels at about their midway portion, and having flangedends by which they are secured to the beams, substantially as described.

4. A body bolster composed of channel beams whose sides are deepest inthe center and narrowing thence toward the ends, centoo IIO

elevated column seat and adjacent `ribs or beads therefor, whereby abolster of minimum or deficient width may be increased in width to adaptit to interchange with a bolster of. greater width, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of June,A. D. 1894.

CHARLES T. soHoEN.

Witnesses:

G. WHITNEY Woon, E. A. SCHOEN.

